Marie Schild

I support clients who experience recurring challenges in everyday life, particularly in relationships, in their professional context or in their relationship with themselves.

The core principles of my therapeutic stance are transparency, empathy, curiosity and a positive, non-judgmental attitude toward your emotional experiences and life choices. In my work I take into account individual factors and life circumstances such as neurodivergence, gender identity, experiences of discrimination and individual preferences regarding diverse relationship models.

Examples of challenges people reach out to me with include:

• Challenges in navigating close relationships, such as feeling unseen/unheard/lonely in a partnership, feeling like "not enough" despite relational efforts, frequent conflicts following the same pattern without reaching resolution, uncontrollable anger during conflict

• Anxiety in romantic relationships

• Stress and overwhelm in navigating everyday life. Feeling lack of energy and joy, feeling like life is being controlled by schedules/needs/requests of others; anxiety and depression

• High self-criticism, perfectionism, procrastination, feelings of dread towards everyday tasks

• Challenges with setting boundaries, fear of conflict, avoidance

• Persistent feeling of "something must be wrong with me"

• Feelings of shame and/or guilt leading to mental spiralling

The aim of the therapeutic process is to better understand individual emotional and behavioural patterns. In my approach I consider all emotions as valid and appropriate and thus valuable information regarding internal states and relational dynamics. I view behavioural patterns as inherently protective of your needs and boundaries, thus our first task together is to get to know your individual patterns and develop a curious and accepting view on these to foster self-compassion: We listen (to your internal parts) and we don't judge.

Once we can tend to those parts with understanding and maybe even compassion, mostly we gain a new perspective on our behaviour and access to a range of options in addition to our automatic reaction patterns. At this point we explore alternative practical coping strategies together. My idea of this work is that we are not "fixing" anything since nothing is inherently broken - rather we reach a state where we can choose from a broader space of responses to triggers, frustrations and challenges. We shift from possibly feeling helpless against our ways into a state of agency and self-leadership. With continuous work of getting to know and "befriending" our parts we strengthen self-trust, selfcare, intuition and self-compassion, thus building resource to navigate relationships and challenges with sovereignty, compassion and assertiveness. As within, so without.

I have experience in supporting clients with challenging biographies such as experienced neglect in childhood, absent, inconsistent or abusive caregivers, migration experiences, mobbing, discrimination, high-conflict or co-dependent relationships, as well as working in fast-paced environments under high pressure. I understand these challenges in a way that I know, it is not easy to just get a sick leave, just do less, just leave the relationship or just work on emotional regulation. In our work together we explore coping mechanisms while holding and acknowledging the entire complexity.

I use evidence-based methods from systemic and client-centered therapy. Further techniques I use in my work include:

Systemic constellations (inner parts, family constellations)
Guided imagery exercises
Internal Family Systems (IFS) model
Techniques for identifying and modifying core beliefs, emotional and reaction patterns
Techniques for coping with intense emotions (e.g., anger, overwhelm, anxiety)

Body awareness and the body’s signals are intentionally integrated as a supportive dimension in the therapeutic process.

2013: Internship at LMU University clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Munich

2022-2023: Practical experience in therapy sessions with multiple clients during accreditation training

Since 2023: Therapist in private practice offering couple's therapy as well as individual therapy throughout a spectrum of indications in Berlin and internationally via video conferences.

2014: Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich

2017: Master's degree in Statistics, Humboldt University, Berlin

2022: Accreditation as coach for systemic and solution-oriented approach

2023: Accreditation as non-medical practitioner for psychotherapy (Heilpraktikergesetz)

2026: Master's degree in Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin